Cessna 182 with interchangeable position wings

cdfigueredo

Elite member
A few months ago I finished my first scratch build. My scratch built Cessna 182 made of EPP. As it was the first model I built, it resulted in many imperfections. A few weeks ago it crashed for no obvious reason. Apparently there must have been some problem with the ailerons as it went into a spiral and was impossible to rescue.
The result was a totally destroyed fuselage. Luckily the wings and tail group were completely saved. Electronics also survived the impact.

The truth is that after several flights I had already caught the trick. The flight had become a bit boring and I was already looking for the next level.
Then I saw this model, a Freewing Pandora 4-in-1. Then I thought: I don't want to throw away a pair of wings and a tail that are practically new. Why not try something like this but using my Cessna?

I'll try to take this thread step by step. Any help is wellcome.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
This is the main idea.
plan.jpg
So i I needed to modify the fuselage to allow the attachment of the wings underneath. I got this.
fuse.jpg
This is the traditional high wing
up.jpg
and the new low wing
low.jpg
This is all for now. i'll open the patient to place the electronics today. I needed to remove the struts of the wings because it does not make sense with the low wings, so i made an extra reinforcement for wings.
 
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quorneng

Master member
I don't doubt it will fly all right but it may feel very different when in low wing form, Not least because the wing will then be well below the CofG whereas normally it is well above. It will likely feel rather more "twitchy" in both roll and pitch.
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
What do u think guys? will it fly well? :unsure::rolleyes:
It's a nice idea and seems to be well executed with the new fuse build so yep, I think she will be good. Interested to hear what your experience will be with the different wing positions.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
I don't doubt it will fly all right but it may feel very different when in low wing form, Not least because the wing will then be well below the CofG whereas normally it is well above. It will likely feel rather more "twitchy" in both roll and pitch.
Thats right, but also that is exactly what i am looking for. An slow plane with up-wing config and a more acrobatic plane with low-wing config.
hope it works.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
It's a nice idea and seems to be well executed with the new fuse build so yep, I think she will be good. Interested to hear what your experience will be with the different wing positions.
Thans. I am taking extremly care in this building. Don-t want big mistakes here. i want to built much clear as possible.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
I have a problem with landing gears....
Original cessna 182 has a tricycle landing gear, but also don-t have a swapable wing :D. So the problem is that i cant place the main gear in the right place because the low wing will be there. (red arrow). So i was thinking to convert it to taildragger like the Tundra. I don-t like too much this solution because i would like to keep the original shape. but nothing comes to my mind now.
LG.jpg

Someone has a better idea about this......... Please.... Maybe a diferent way to hold the main gear under the low wing???
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
Here is some pregress and new ideas.
diagram.jpg
this is how i think the components will fit into the fuselaje.
hole.jpg
I made a hole into the middle and i will use a piece of ply (the red square in the top view of the uper diagram) to hold the battery and the servos.

To hold the landing gear in place i was thinking maybe to make a piece like this:
LG diagram.jpg
the red part is the wing. The landing gear will be sewn with a thin wire to a piece of plywood and glued to the detachable bottom. That way i can keep the tricycle gear as the original Cessna.
Will it work? :rolleyes:
 
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quorneng

Master member
That looks neat.
I suppose the only question is how is the "detachable bottom" itself fixed on?
To accommodate the shock loads of landing it needs to be fixed more securely than the wing itself.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
That looks neat.
I suppose the only question is how is the "detachable bottom" itself fixed on?
To accommodate the shock loads of landing it needs to be fixed more securely than the wing itself.
screws.png

I was thinking to hold the wing and the detachable bottom with screws and with "two wooden pins" in each part... i think it could hold pretty well..
Any opinions? :rolleyes:
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
Yesterday I finished rounding the fuselage to give it a softer shape and similar to the original model. I also cuted the nose just where the front landing gear should be placed.
morro.jpg
I opened the fuselage in half to facilitate the housing of the electronics. I will also use a piece of plastic to mount the servos and battery. This piece is embedded in the fuselage.
half.jpg piece.jpg piece2.jpg final.jpg
This piece will be secured once the fuselage is glued again. On the top, will be placed the servos of depth and direction, as well as the receiver. while underneath, the battery.
servos.jpg batery.jpg
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
Landing gears ready and waiting to be attached.

The nose gear is made with a bicycle radio and fixed with homemade plastic clamps. The fold in the radio will allow me to control it from the servo without the need for extra parts.
Nose LG.jpg 4.jpg
The template drawn on the paper will be the frame where the engine mount will be fixed.

The main train is also built using bicycle radios sewn to a plastic from a container like this:
reseller-hosting-solutions-500x500.jpg
Main landing gear details
LG.jpg LG up.jpg
The plastic is glued to the detachable piece that is attached under the wings (in the low wing position).
2.jpg 1.jpg LG detail.jpg
The main landing gear is ready and placed in its position under the wings (not glued yet).
LG in position.jpg
If it is not clear yet, it is necessary to detail that when the wing is in the high position, there will be an identical piece to the central section of the wing that will "cover" the hole and serve as a "sandwish" for the landing gear.
 
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quorneng

Master member
that looks quite a neat layout but how have stuck the plastic to the foam "insert"?
That type of container plastic is very resistant to most glues.
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
that looks quite a neat layout but how have stuck the plastic to the foam "insert"?
That type of container plastic is very resistant to most glues.
Last month i was runing some test with that material and that time hot glue did the job well. I will make some other test soon, but gess hot glue will make it.
By the other hand, during landing and takeoff, mayor forces will push the landing gear against the wing (see blue arrows) so the wings will hold it. Glue (green) will just keep it in position, wont be exposed to big amount of force... i think... but i could be totaly wrong.
glued.jpg
 

quorneng

Master member
My concern is not with the strength of the mounting to take the vertical load but it ability to resist the rearward forces that the undercarriage receives, particularly on the initial touch down.
At this point the plane will be travelling relatively fast so unless the landing surface it "glass" smooth the initial force tries to force the wheels backwards. The length of the undercarriage leg means any force at the wheel is significantly magnified at the attachment and may cause the glue joint to simply "peel" apart.
It is difficult to judge how things may fail so you may just have to "try it and see".
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
My concern is not with the strength of the mounting to take the vertical load but it ability to resist the rearward forces that the undercarriage receives, particularly on the initial touch down.
At this point the plane will be travelling relatively fast so unless the landing surface it "glass" smooth the initial force tries to force the wheels backwards. The length of the undercarriage leg means any force at the wheel is significantly magnified at the attachment and may cause the glue joint to simply "peel" apart.
It is difficult to judge how things may fail so you may just have to "try it and see".

:eek::eek::eek: i got it.... u are right. oh crap- :confused:
i think i need to find an other aproach...
what do u think if i use this new idea:
wen.jpg
55555.jpg
instead of using a small plastic sheat glued to the "detachable bottom", i could use a biger one with same area of the "detachable bottom"???
so that new sheat will be hot glued to the "detachable bottom" and also fixed with same screws that attach the wings to the fuse (black holes)...
The main gear will be sewn too to this new sheat.

What do u think???
 

cdfigueredo

Elite member
The nose gear is ready and attached to the firewall. the whole set looks pretty strong... think it should handle some hard landings.
222.jpg 111.jpg
 

quorneng

Master member
How sure are that the sewn undercarriage will ot simply pull the plastic sheet away from the detachable bottom.
By comparison the nose gear is likely to be much stronger being mechanically clamped to a thick wooden bulkhead.
If the main gear was mechanically clamped to a solid wood detachable bottom then it would be as secure as the nose leg.